The Best Movie Theater

Years, ok, decades ago, my husband and I went to the movies a lot, an awful lot. Sometimes we'd go to two movies a day. Our first date was to see a movie.

In recent years, quite a few actually, I haven't been to a movie theater at all. It's not that I haven't seen movies.

One of the reasons is that I'm not comfortable sitting in the seats. I just found myself miserably in pain. And, especially in Israel, where so many people are reading the subtitles, there's a lot of noise, since people talk and don't care that they can't hear. And finally, movies are expensive to see.

There's also no reason to see the movies when they're "new." It's not like a newspaper. Good movies are just a enjoyable months and years after release.

The last time I saw a movie at the movies was when I went to see the Andy Kaufman movie, "Man From the Moon." That's because Andy and I went to school together, Great Neck North.

Since then, the only movies I see are on the VCR and DVD. I can put up my feet without being yelled at by the ushers. I can get up whenever I want for a break of any sort. That's what "pause" and "stop" are for. I can eat what I want and get phone calls. I can fold the laundry and entertain friends. I can eat popcorn with just the right amount of salt sans food coloring. I can watch movies at any time of the day or night.

I can buy the movies I want for less than the price of a few tickets. When I was in NY a couple of weeks ago, I found a couple of great stores for DVD's. KMart and a store in the Manhattan Mall. In the MM store, lower floor, they had some great movies for $14- two for $25 and four for $40- I bought a couple, and then asked my parents, 80 plus, how much a senior ticket cost in the local theater. They said $5- Meaning that even two discounted tickets cost the same as a DVD of an old movie, if you're buying four. Friends and family can share them. Today they're available in libraries, just like books. There's really no reason to go to the "movies," pay a fortune per ticket and then be forced to pay inflated amounts in the movie kiosk, or snack bar. In many places, it's forbidden to bring your own food from home. It think that they purposely spray the place with popcorn odor to make us hungry, so we'll buy junk food during the intermission.

If it's a good movie, you can, and will want to, see it more than once. So definitely the best movie theater is your own home!